Swedish meatballs is a Christmas tradition within our extended family. This year, my wife and I were alone for Christmas and decided to make it ourselves. We chose a version with a rich, creamy roux-based gravy, served over homemade linguini with a side of steamed broccoli.

As a funny aside, my wife gave me a beautiful carving set as a Christmas gift. Very sharp indeed. I ended up cutting my finger. Not with the knife, but with the wrapping paper. Good grief!

Ingredients
Meatball Mixture
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Salt 1 tsp if kosher
- 1/4 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 egg
Meat
- 1/2 lb Ground Beef
- 1/2 lb Ground Pork
- 3 cups cremini mushrooms finely chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine
Sauce
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt I like homemade
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
- If you choose to finish the meatballs in the oven, preheat to 350 degrees.
Meatballs
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the panko crumbs, parsley, allspice, nutmeg, garlic powder, pepper, salt, onion and egg. Mix thoroughly with a spoon.
- Add the ground beef and pork and combine. I like using my hands and working the mixture into the meat.
- Form the meat mixture into about 1 inch balls.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Place the meatballs in the pan evenly spaced. This will give them space to brown instead of steaming.
- Brown them on several sides. I like to create a bit of a crust on them for flavor.
- Once browned, remove them from the pan and place them in a bowl for later
Mushrooms
- In the remaining oil, sauté the mushrooms until golden brown.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce.
- Remove the mushroom mixture to the bowl of meatballs.
Sauce
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the sauté pan. Reduce heat to medium low.
- Slowly add the flour, stirring constantly until a paste has formed. (This is a roux.)
- Immediately start to slowly pour in the cream, stirring constantly to create a smooth mixture. (You have now created a béchamel sauce.)
- Add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and yogurt. Stir to combine.
- Return the meatballs and mushroom mixture to the pan. Stir to coat the meatballs.
- Cover the saucepan and and simmer gently to finish cooking the meatballs. This will take 15-20 minutes. You could also place the covered saucepan in 350 degree oven to complete the cooking.
Serving
- We served the meatballs and sauce over freshly made linguini. It could also be served over mashed potatoes or even broccoli.
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